Photos That Will Reignite Your Love for #MrStealYourGrandma

Irvin Randle didn’t ask to be famous. Until the end of June 2016, he was just an elementary schoolteacher in Houston, Texas. Admittedly, he was a particularly well-dressed schoolteacher, who’s been “dressing pretty swagger and pretty trendy all my life,” he says. Then one of his Facebook friends asked if he could repost photos of Randle to Instagram, and Randle’s life changed overnight.

Randle’s pictures received 37,000 likes in less than an hour. His daughter called him from California to tell him he was trending on Twitter. He didn’t know what “trending” meant.

The 55-year-old, who is grandfather to two grandchildren, was dubbed by the internet as #MrStealYourGrandma. “I kind of got upset for a minute,” Randle says, “I don’t want anybody’s grandma.” But then he leaned into it, making his first public appearance just two days later at the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans. He went from having 5,000 friends on Facebook to commanding an official Facebook page with 838,000 likes. His humble 291 followers on Instagram snowballed to 140,000. He learned what it meant to trend — and all that came with it. “I can tell you from there, it has just been a very exciting and pleasant ride for myself,” he says.

Drew Anthony Smith

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How do you look so good?

I eat right. I don’t eat any sugar. Cookies, candy, chips, ice cream — I cut all that out. I have a granddaughter that’s 4 years old, and when she came along, I was like, OK, I want to be around for her. I want to run and play and go to the park.I don’t want to be that grandpa that sits on a bench and babysits. I started jogging, I do 30 push-ups every morning, I run five days a week, I work out for 45 minutes, and it makes me feel good. And I now have a 9-month-old grandson and he’s very active, and when I’m around him, I just feel good about it. I’m involved.

Do you think you’re sexy?

I do, for my age.

Just for your age?

Yes. [Laughs.] I mean, for my age and the way that I carry myself, the way that I handle things. I do.

What do you think is the sexiest thing about you?

The way I get my hair cut, the way I dress, and the way that I hold myself when I’m in public or in private. And now since I’ve grown the beard, the beard is more appealing.

Drew Anthony Smith

Have you ever actually stolen a woman?

Yes, I have. My wife was dating my cousin and I did steal her away from him. [Laughs.]

How are things between you and your cousin now?

We’re good. He didn’t come to the wedding and all that, and his mom, they got upset and everything, but we’re OK. We see each other at family reunions, and we just high-five each other and laugh about it. We’re older and mature; we’re able to handle it now versus almost 30 years ago, we couldn’t.

How long have you and your wife been married?

Twenty-eight years.

I saw somewhere that the first photos of yours that went viral were taken with a selfie stick. Where did you get your selfie stick?

I used to take pictures with my phone, and my friends would laugh at me because I would drop the phone, and [the photos] wouldn’t come out right. And so one of my best friends came over [on my birthday], and she said, “I got your gift for you,” and I opened it, and she had bought me a selfie stick. I took that selfie stick and I was just taking it everywhere. And she said, “Oh my god, I created a monster with this selfie stick!”

Drew Anthony Smith

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How many photos do you take before you choose the one you want to post on Instagram?

I usually take about five. Even when I take a selfie with somebody in public, [I say,] “Let me see how it comes out first.” And I say, “Uh-uh. Uh-uh. Delete that. And let’s take another one.”

Do you and your wife go out on dates?

We do but it’s kind of hard right now. We go places, but she gets overwhelmed when somebody recognizes me and wants to take pictures with me eating dinner. We went to the movies, and the manager had to come because they found out I was in the theater, and the ladies were running in, “He’s in here,” and we had to stop and go out and take pictures.

Since you’re a schoolteacher, have you received any comments from your students’ parents or grandparents?

Yes, I have. And I could tell you, my principal here is so good. He protects me very well as far as with the parents. They’ve been trying to get up here to see me every morning to take a picture. When I’m leaving in the evening to go home, some of the parents are out there waiting for me to take pictures.

Drew Anthony Smith

It sounds like your life has changed a lot. Have there been any interesting opportunities that have come about as a result of your fame?

This is a blessing for me. I’ve been out to L.A. three times now, auditioned for a couple shows, I’m still holding for that. Some people have contacted me about representing their clothes or their beer brand. People have been sending me free T-shirts and hats and shoes and clothes, and I had to get a P.O. box for that.

My life has changed. I used to run to Kroger’s, to the local grocery store, to CVS, to Walgreens. I can’t do that anymore. Because when they see me, they want to take pictures. And everybody don’t love Irvin, you know what I’m saying? So I have to be very careful when I go out there.

OK, so what do you think are the downsides of this fame? Like, for example, I saw online that you refuted allegations that you were gay.

Yeah, that’s the downside of it. I don’t know what people have on their minds. I get some hate mail, some hate emails …“Go sit down, you old fart.” All those kinds of things. It hurt me at first. I read into some of the comments, and they start saying things about me, and I was like, “You don’t even know me.” And my daughter called me and she said, “Hey, Dad, don’t do that. Do you think Beyoncé and the Kardashians are replying to those comments? No, just be you.” And so I was like, “You’re right, Jessica.” I stopped doing that.

When they put me out there, they didn’t know if I was straight or gay or anything like that. And it bothered me for a minute. [But] my picture didn’t make it because of my sexuality. My picture made it because of my health, my age, and how I dress and am keeping myself up. So it doesn’t bother me anymore.

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Drew Anthony Smith

I noticed on your Instagram and website that you mentioned fielding “serious inquiries.” Does that mean there have been non-serious inquiries? Have you received any weird or funny requests?

Yeah, oh my god. Some people have sent me messages like, “Divorce your wife, come marry me.” You wouldn’t believe some of the emails I get.

You mentioned you had auditioned for some TV shows. Are you trying to get into acting now? What do you hope will come of this?

Whatever comes for me and is good for me. I still get a lot of guys [who say,] “You’re my role model! You inspire me to get out there and work out and eat right!” And I want to put myself out there as that, and let the guys know that 50 and older, there’s still life. You don’t have to sit down with the remote in your life and watch TV. You can still go out there and do things like these 21-year-olds are doing.

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